


500 Words You Should Know: 209. Grotesque

by gaslightgallows (hearts_blood)



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Introspection, Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 01:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearts_blood/pseuds/gaslightgallows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is something inhuman about her lover’s face, Phryne thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 Words You Should Know: 209. Grotesque

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fire_Sign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Sign/gifts).



Grotesque  
adjective  
1\. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.  
2\. fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

 

There is something inhuman about her lover’s face, Phryne thinks, as Jack Robinson sleeps in her bed. The late morning sun plays over the bridge of his nose, the arches of his cheekbones, the scrollwork of his lips. It is a rare morning that she is awake and Jack is asleep, so she tucks her knees up to her chest and watches, curious and enthralled.

It is not merely that he is beautiful in and of himself; she has been with prettier men. It is the changeability of his features that intrigues her. Jack shifts, chameleon-like, with his environment. Sometimes he is old, sometimes young. Sometimes he is silent and brooding, as still and watchful as a carved statue on an old Gothic cathedral, with eyes that know the passage of centuries and the pain that went with them. Other times he is playful, smiling, quick as a flame, as bright and as dangerous if not treated with respect.

Some days Jack’s face is haggard, weary, a reminder that he is older than she is. Other days the lines and sharp angles speak of a life well and truly lived, and without aging him, make him seem ageless.

It was never the same face twice-over. He is never the same, from one moment to the next.

Phryne shivers, and smiles, and waits to see what face he will wear today.


End file.
